


Just a Rumor

by ramcannedcheese



Series: Mind Over Matter, Change Over Time [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bittersweet Ending, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Uchiha Massacre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramcannedcheese/pseuds/ramcannedcheese
Summary: First attempts at spying, unlikely alliances, and unsettling news bridges the gap between four kids, forcing them to work together to answer a shared question. How can an entire clan of people all die in the same night?With a mix of worry and curiosity, Sakura teams up with Shikamaru, Hinata, and Ino to try and find an answer through unlikely means.
Series: Mind Over Matter, Change Over Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058294
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	Just a Rumor

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little short to go along with Butterfly Effect. It takes place during chapter six. Can be read as a stand alone fic with the knowledge that Iruka gave his students a very watered down version of what happened to the Uchiha clan the morning after the clan was wiped out.

When she first heard the news her mind was consumed with worry. Was Sasuke ok? What happened to him? When would he be coming back? But the more Iruka-sensei told the class the more her worries drifted away from Sasuke and into the mystery of what had happened to the Uchiha clan. Their teacher was being purposefully vague, Sakura knew it was so he wouldn’t have a room full of panicked students. He used words like “tragedy” and phrases like “devastation to the village” to avoid telling the class what really happened. Still, Sakura was able to put some pieces together. Something terrible had happened to everyone in the Uchiha clan and they had all died except for Sasuke. Despite having read between the lines, Sakura didn’t like being out of the loop. There was more to this story and she was determined to figure it out. 

Curious about who else had picked up on Iruka’s avoidance, Sakura looked around the room at her fellow classmates. Most had their heads down, trying to take in what had happened. Shikamaru and Hinata, however, were both staring Iruka-sensei down. It seemed they had picked up on the man’s clever dodge and wanted more information. They were out of luck, however. Before they could even raise their hands to ask a question, Iruka-sensei announced it was time for lunch and dismissed them. The teacher made quick work of escaping the room, leaving his students alone. 

Sakura grabbed her bento box, then marched over to Shikamaru’s desk. The boy was staring at the door their teacher had just run out of, a frown etched onto his face. For a few moments Sakura debated how to bring up her worries but Shikamaru beat her to it.

“So you want to know more too?” He didn’t look away from the door but it was clear Shikamaru was addressing her, she was the only one around him. 

“Yeah. It’s really worrying and Iruka-sensei seems to be hiding something.” Sakura sat down across from him and started to pick at her lunch. 

The boy turned away from the door only to frown at the desk in front of him. “He knows more than he’s letting on, that’s for sure.” 

“Oh, are you two… are you trying to figure out what happened?” Sakura was surprised to see Hinata approach them but nonetheless happy to have her join their group. The more people helping them, the faster they could get to the bottom of this. 

Shikamaru nodded at the other girl and motioned for her to sit down beside him. Once she was settled Shikamaru got right to business and briefed them on what he had figured out so far. “Iruka-sensei implied that all the Uchiha but Sasuke are dead. That seems difficult to believe, seeing how the Uchiha were spread out through the entire village due to them running the police force. An attack from other villages can be ruled out, they wouldn’t be able to hunt down all the Uchiha in the village without being caught.” Hinata gasped at this and Sakura felt her jaw drop. It was obvious what Shikamaru was suggesting but she just had to confirm it.

“What are you saying?” Sakura demanded.

“I’m saying that the reason we aren’t getting much information is because it was an inside job. Someone from our village targeted the Uchiha and killed them all.” The group fell into a morbid silence, but it was quickly interrupted by someone new approaching. 

“Jeez Shikamaru, way to make everyone feel like shit.” Ino sat down on the edge of Shikamaru’s desk, snacking on some crackers while glaring at the boy.

Sakura’s eyebrow twitched at the blonde’s appearance. “It’s rude to listen in on other people’s conversations Ino-pig.” 

“Well then you three should learn to be more subtle. I bet half the class heard you.” Ino snarked back, waving a cracker around to gesture to the classroom. 

“Even so, only you are rude enough to butt in when you weren’t invited.” Ino opened her mouth, ready to rebuttal, when Shikamaru cut her off. 

“Hey, can you two stop fighting? Not only is it scaring Hinata off but it’s also not helping.” The two girls sent Shikamaru equally scathing looks but he didn’t even flinch. Though they both had some grudges against each other, they had to admit he was right. If they wanted to get to the bottom of what had happened they would have to listen to him and be willing to work together.

They turned to face each other, exchanged tense nods, then looked back to Shikamaru and Hinata. Sakura spoke for both Ino and herself when she said, “Fine. We’ll stop fighting. How do we want to handle this?”

“First we need to gather intel. My guess is all the teachers are going to be just as tight lipped as Iruka-sensei so hanging out by the teachers lounge would be a waste of time. Let’s head outside. There are a lot of people who pass by the academy, if we can overhear some civilians talking we’ll probably get a better idea of what’s going on.” 

Hinata timidly raised her hand. When all eyes turned to her she blushed but spoke up. “Um… wouldn’t that just be gossip? How will we know if what they’re saying is true?”

“Gossip of this kind often has some basis in truth. We already know what happened, but we want to know how and why. If we collect enough gossip we’ll be able to compare multiple sources and see what matches and what doesn’t. The general consensus will be our best bet.” Sakura and Ino both nodded in agreement with Shikamaru’s statement but Hinata still seemed unsure. 

“And what if there is no general consensus?” She looked over to the only boy in their small group, seeking answers. 

“Unlikely. Still, we can take what information we collect by the end of our break to Iruka-sensei. His reactions might shed some light about how accurate our data is.” 

Hinata nodded, reassured by his words . “That.. that sounds reasonable.”

With everyone in agreement the group made their way outside. Shikamaru directed them to each take a different edge of the yard and to listen carefully to people as they passed by without being direct. This wasn’t something Sakura was used to. She struggled with this slightly and found it difficult to not turn and watch people as they spoke. However, her struggles with staying hidden turned out to be unnecessary. Very quickly she realized that Shikamaru had directed her to cover the front door of the school. Here people were watching what they were saying and soon enough Sakura gave up on trying to overhear the passersby. 

Having realized that she wasn’t going to learn anything new, Sakura turned to glare at Shikamaru. More than likely he had given her this position because he thought she was the most likely to be caught. It stung a bit and she hoped to relay that through her furious gaze alone. Unfortunately for her, Shikamaru was lounging under a tree with his eyes closed. To anyone else it would look like he was taking a nap but Sakura knew what to look for. A group of women passed by Shikamaru and their words caused him to close his eyes more tightly. He returned to his relaxed position quickly and the women were none the wiser, but the tell had been obvious to Sakura. 

Growing more curious she turned to watch Hinata to see if she had any visible tells. The girl was tucked away in the far corner of the yard, slowly picking away at her lunch. There were less people walking by her because she was farthest away from the main road. Sakura quickly saw why Shikamaru directed the other girl to that position. Whenever someone walked by and she overheard something upsetting Hinata would flinch. It wasn’t something a person would recognize if they weren’t looking for it but once you saw it that’s all you noticed about the girl. 

With this in mind Sakura turned to watch Ino. Shikamaru had directed the blonde to hang out around a flower patch at the edge of the yard. This position put Ino closest to the main road, meaning she could overhear lots of gossip as people went about their day. For the first few minutes Ino gave nothing away, but then a group of chunin passed by. They were huddled together, clearly trying to stay hushed. Ino for her part seemed completely absorbed in the flowers in front of her but Sakura could tell she was listening intently. Her movements slowed down ever so slightly when the group got close to her. When they were out of hearing range Ino’s movement picked back up to their previous speed. Still, Sakura knew only someone watching closely would be able to notice this and even then, they would likely write it off as Ino getting distracted by the flowers. With this information in mind Sakura could now see why Shikamaru had placed them in these specific spots in the yard. Grudgingly she had to admit it was smart of him. If one of the ninja passing by thought that school kids overheard something they shouldn’t the ninja might go tell a teacher and the students would be called back inside, putting the group’s operation to a stop. This way they had a higher chance of getting lots of information without anyone finding out what they were up to. 

Sakura went back to listening in on the gossip around her but it wasn’t anything that she hadn’t already heard. As the end of their lunch period drew closer Shikamaru stood up from his position and walked back inside. The girls followed him into their classroom where he stationed himself in a far corner of the room. 

He let out a long sigh before turning to Ino to address her first. “Alright, what did you find out?” Sakura buried her immediate irritation that Shikamaru didn’t ask her first but she also knew he wasn’t doing it to pick favorites. He wanted to get to the bottom of what happened. Ino was the only one with a dad who worked in T&I and she had been placed at the best position to collect information.

“Well, it wasn’t anything good. I heard a few different rumors. One was that it was mass suicide, another that said it was some kind of clan wide hysteria. There was a really disturbing one though and that was the one that people repeated the most.” Ino did her best to keep her face neutral while she reported her findings but the slight twist of her lips gave it away. Shikamaru met her eyes. They stared each other down for a few seconds before he gave her a stiff nod to continue. The blonde took a deep breath to steel herself then told the group the last rumor she heard. 

“According to this rumor, Shikamaru was right. It was an inside job. People are saying that Itachi Uchiha killed them all.” 

The news hit Sakura like a wrecking ball. She didn't want to believe it but she also had to admit to herself that it was unlikely Ino would lie about something like this. They were both competitive but they had also established that this went beyond their usual rivalry. It was much more serious and because of that Sakura knew she could trust Ino. That didn't mean she had to believe the other girl though. 

Shikamaru sighed again. “Did everyone else hear the same rumors? Or were there others? Because I heard about the same thing as Ino did.”

As Hinata was busy fidgeting with her jacket Sakura took the chance to speak. “I didn’t hear much from where I was. I think I positioned myself too close to the front door of the school, people were watching what they were saying. Just a lot of the same thing that Iruka-sensei told us.” The second she finished she immediately turned to Hinata, hoping for better news. The girl looked up through her hair and gave Sakura a tiny head shake in response to her desperate stare. 

“I… heard the same thing that Ino and Shikamaru did…” Sakura held back a choked gasp, struggling to come to terms with the new information. 

While she battled with her emotions Ino plowed ahead. “So now we have a pretty solid idea on what happened. What do we do with this information?”

Something about Ino's tone brought Sakura out of her thoughts. It was just so demanding but final. Did the blonde really believe what they had heard? After all, it was still just rumors. Sakura addressed the other girl's question with a question of her own. “Are we still going to go to Iruka-sensei about all this? We don’t know if this is the truth or not.”

The other two girls looked away while Shikamaru shook his head. “Sakura, I’m sorry but I’m pretty sure it’s true. It’s the most logical explanation and the general consensus about what happened last night.”

“But… that was Sasuke’s big brother! Sasuke talked about him constantly! Sasuke loved him!” She stopped herself from continuing to rant. It wasn’t the time for it, and Sakura knew that being angry wasn’t going to help Sasuke. Despite that, it didn’t change the sudden rage she felt towards a man she had never met. 

Shikamaru looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time all day. Replacing his usually laid back and lazy expression was a tight lipped frown and furrowed eyebrows. His eyes were shining too brightly, as if the information had him close to tears too but, unlike Sakura, Shikamaru always strived for objectivity. Those tears would never fall because they didn’t help him achieve his goal. “I know. The most we can do is be supportive without being overbearing. He’ll need time and space first then support when he’s ready.”

His words made Sakura want to stomp her feet and throw a tantrum. The entire situation made her feel useless but she also knew that having a fit wouldn’t help either. She settled for stating her feelings to the group, hoping someone might have a better idea than Shikamaru. “That doesn’t feel like enough.”

At her stubborn tone Ino reached out for Sakura’s hand and gently gripped it in hers. The other girl gave Sakura’s hand a squeeze and for the first time in years Sakura felt some solidarity with the blonde. She wasn’t the only one who felt useless right now. 

When Ino finally replied her voice was a whisper. “It’s going to have to be. It’s all we have.”

**Author's Note:**

> Definitely not my best work but it felt good to get back into the swing of writing! With any luck I'll post another chapter of Butterfly Effect this weekend. I also have a few more ideas for little side stories similar to this one so stay tuned for that!


End file.
